Greyhound was delighted to see the appointment of two TDs from the Green Party to government in Ireland in 2007. In particular, the appointment of John Gormley as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government should help drive forward government policy, particularly at the expense of landfill.

Over the last number of years, Ireland has taken a proactive approach to moving forward on waste management in line with government directives and EU legislation. National waste management targets over a fifteen year timescale include:

• A diversion of 50% of overall household waste away from landfill
• A minimum 65% reduction in biodegradable municipal wastes consigned to landfill
• The development of composting and other feasible biological treatment facilities capable of treating up to 300,000 tonnes of organic waste annually
• Materials recycling of 35% of municipal waste
• Recovery of at least 50% of construction and demolition waste within a five year period, with a progressive increase to at least 85% over fifteen years
• Rationalisation of municipal waste landfills, with progressive and sustained reductions in numbers, leading to an integrated network of some 20 or so state-of-the-art facilities incorporating energy recovery and high standards of environmental protection